When these people start making sense, Bush is in trouble

What pinko-commie muthafuckas published this broadside against Bush's tax cuts?

"Given the long-term budget constraint and the huge preexisting fiscal imbalance, the tax cuts are likely to be paid for, in the main, through some combination of future tax increases and cuts to Social Security and Medicare," he writes. "To the extent that the 2001-2003 tax cuts lead to future tax increases, the combined effect is likely to make government bigger both allocatively and distributionally."

Would you believe me if I told you it was a group of limited government, free market espousing libertarians called the Cato Institute? Now I know Cato is not on our side, but read part of their reaction to Bush's speech on Iraq and just try to not crack a smile.

"President Bush missed an opportunity to clarify the role of U.S. forces in Iraq, particularly how long they will be expected to remain in the country, and he mischaracterized the sentiments of a majority of Iraqis who want the American occupation to end. Saddam loyalists and terrorists, who never comprised more than a small fraction of the population of Iraq, are now exploiting the anger and resentment of the occupation to recruit new members to their ranks. The occupation, therefore, is increasing the threat of terrorism, and must be ended both for the sake of the Iraqi people and for Americans.

"That occupation does not end on June 30, as the president said in his speech. The nearly 140,000 U.S. troops in the country, plus several thousand more from other countries, imply a measure of coercion on the Iraqi people. And, although the president said that the United States has no intention of being an occupying power, actions speak louder than words. Only by committing to a formal timetable for withdrawal will the United States be able to convince the Iraqi people that their future is truly in their hands. So long as the new interim government of Iraq, and any subsequent government, is dependent upon foreigners for its survival, it will not be seen as serving the wishes of the Iraqi people."

Maybe Kerry should hire Cato to handle his plans and policies for Iraq. Not only do they offer a stark difference from Bush's bullshit, but it would do more to sap right-leaning voters away from the Bush camp then a wishy-washy position on abortion.

And one more thing, Cato on the Patriot Act:

"Congress should await the findings of the 9/11 Commission before it takes up the Patriot Act once again. Policymakers should first assess how well our law enforcement and intelligence agencies have been using their existing powers before they confer additional powers to the government.

"One of the primary lessons that Congress should have learned from the original enactment of the Patriot Act was that it is a terrible idea to 'bundle' so many legal changes into a gigantic legislative 'package.' When that happens, it vastly increases the chances of a bad idea getting into the mix without scrutiny. What Congress needs to do now is consider the president's call to renew the Patriot Act on a section-by-section basis -- separate votes on all of the major provisions. If this procedure is followed, the provisions that have true merit will very likely be re-enacted and the ones that lack merit will very likely fail."

You know, speaking as a quasi-Green Party guy who considers the the Democrats to lean too far to the right, I could grow to like this group of limited government libertarians.